


Victim of Circumstance

by Tarlan



Category: A Taste for Killing (1992)
Genre: Angst, Drama, Gen, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-12-27
Updated: 2007-12-27
Packaged: 2017-10-18 17:42:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/191519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tarlan/pseuds/Tarlan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cary had never considered himself a victim too, a victim of circumstances beyond his control.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Victim of Circumstance

Even without the chest wound, the fall alone should have killed him but, somehow, Landry had survived. _Like a cockroach_ , Cary thought as he watched them load the killer onto a helicopter alongside Blaine. The two stretchers were separated by only a few feet inside the emergency helicopter but as both were considered to be in a serious condition, there was no time to wait for another helicopter to fly out from the mainland.

Cary and Tess were bundled into the back of the police helicopter, and he mouthed his thanks to the detective who had saved his life by firing the shots at Landry. In the noisy craft, it was impossible to hear what words passed between the detectives but Cary welcomed the chance to simply be still and think. He offered a weak smile to Tess when she grabbed his hand and squeezed it tight.

So much had happened over this summer break, opening his eyes to the world and making him question the person he had once believed to be his best friend.

Bo Landry was a sociopath or some other label denoting mental illness, someone who was unable to understand the basic tenets of a civilized society. In some ways, he couldn't help what he had done because he had no true moral compass to work from. Blaine, however, had no excuse beyond simple greed and ambition. He had understood all too well the implications of everything that had happened to them. Yet, rather than telling the truth and possibly risk some censure, he'd sought to remove the threat Landry posed to his future by eliminating the man, causing this escalation into further violence.

Two men were dead by Landry's hand, possibly three if Blaine did not make it but who was truly to blame? The first killing could have been described as self-defense because Elray had been drunk and violent, attacking both Cary and Blaine after Blaine's complaints lost him his job on the oil rig. On that occasion, Landry had saved them, and if Blaine had not sided with Landry and insisted on hiding the crime rather than reporting it, then the terrible events that followed could have been avoided altogether.

Charlie Swanson was the only true victim in all of this, used as a means to blackmail Blaine because the old hobo had seen too much. He had been in the wrong place at the wrong time just once too often in his miserable life but he hadn't deserved to die at Landry's hand though. In Landry's eyes, Charlie was a nothing, a nobody, given the same status as someone's pet cat or worse. Landry had felt no empathy at all for the old man, and no remorse either. Yet, hadn't he been a similar victim of circumstances that conspired against him, drawing him into Landry's predatory circle through Blaine?

The helicopter landed on the pad on top of the police headquarters, and Cary followed the detectives down to the interview room with Tess still plastered to his side. During the short ride he had already decided to tell them everything they wanted to know, to cooperate completely.

Part way through, another officer entered and whispered into Detective Rutland's ear. He waited until the officer had left and then he broke the news that Blaine had not made it.

Going on to college had been Blaine's dream, wanting to prepare himself to take over the family business, and Cary had allowed Blaine to drag him along for the ride. Without Blaine, he no longer had a reason to follow that path. Under the circumstances, he cut a deal with the Prosecution that would keep him out of prison for his part in all this and would even keep his record clean, but only if he testified against Landry.

Months passed before Landry was fit enough to stand trial and, with relief, Cary learned that he wouldn't be required to testify at all after Landry's defense put in a plea for insanity. With so much psychiatric information stacked up against him, the plea was accepted and Cary's last sight of Bo Landry was looking on from the back of the courtroom as the good-looking sociopath was led away with a smile on his handsome face. Their eyes met for one moment, and the smile broadened as Landry called to him as if they were still the best of friends, as if he had not killed Blaine and tried to murder him as well. It was an eerie moment, chilling in its intensity and Cary shuddered as Landry was pulled away by a security detail, his affable smile turning to a snarl against the manhandling from his guards.

Cary felt the brush of fingers on his arm and turned to find Tess standing beside him, staring at Landry as he was led away. He drew her close to his side, wrapping an arm around her waist, and he felt her shiver.

"He'll get out one of these days," she stated softly and Cary nodded.

Every day the news held stories of killers serving just a few years in a mental asylum before being released as _cured_ , only for them to kill again. He felt a shiver run up his own spine, silently wondering if he had truly seen the last of Bo Landry, or whether they were destined to meet again in another time and place.

THE END


End file.
